How To Delegate At Work When You're Used To Doing Everything Yourself

If you're the type to treat busyness as a badge of honor, you might be taking on more than you actually need to. Whether consciously or not, you could be creating unnecessary work for yourself simply because you like feeling needed. Sound familiar? You might be surprised to realize that some of the things keeping you busy don't actually need to be on your plate.

What's the alternative? Delegation. It means assigning tasks, duties, and authority to someone else. Sounds easy, right? Not quite.

While there are plenty of good reasons to delegate, knowing when and how to do it can be challenging. There are also internal barriers that can keep you from letting go of certain responsibilities.

"They can't do it the way I want it." Yes, they probably won't be able to do it exactly the way you do. Does it have to be your way all the time? Could someone else have a different and maybe even better way of doing it? Perfectionism should be saved for specific high risk, high stakes tasks. If it's applied on everything, it becomes a delaying mechanism.

The need to control every single thing. It may be related to perfectionism. It could also be just rooted from the fear of something going wrong, usually due to lack of trust on other people. Doing this will cement the busyness on your schedule. It will also cause demotivation on other people. Build your team to a level of capability you can trust. If they stay unskilled, that's on you.

It's just faster if you do it yourself. Yes, and if they never learn, you will always end up doing it. If it's urgent then go ahead and do it, now. But commit to teaching the task one step at a time. You don’t have to delegate the whole thing all at once. The long cut is the short cut. You'll save time in the long run.

One usually hidden reason people can't delegate is that they've identified so much with being good at something, and giving that up feels like having an identity crisis. If this is you, separate who you are and your worth from a specific role or project. Think of this as your chance to expand yourself and create a whole new you as you explore unchartered territories. This is a chance for you to grow.

Before deciding, there are a few things to consider, from the level of expertise and risk involved to whether someone else could learn from doing it. Ask yourself these questions to figure out what you should keep on your plate and what you can hand over to someone else.

1. Does it require my unique expertise? If yes, keep it for now, then figure out how to break down the expertise and teach it. If not, then the task is a candidate for delegation.

2. Is it high risk or high stakes? If you're delegating for the first time, start with non-urgent ones with manageable risks. Hold people accountable in small chunks first. Then slowly build up from there.

3. Could someone learn from doing this? Delegation could be a way to build capability and train people. You hogging the work may be a disservice to other people’s training.

4. Could you focus on more strategic work? If you're a team lead and are focused on being a great individual contributor, you might be depriving yourself of the opportunity to upskill. Lessen your load so you can do more intelligent work.

When deciding how to delegate, consider who would benefit from learning the task. It could be someone who already has the strengths needed to handle it, or someone who needs to develop that particular skill. You should also assess their current capabilities and workload. If capacity is an issue, help them figure out what to prioritize when their plate gets full. Finally, consider the task's complexity and how many steps it involves. You can break it down and delegate it in stages to manage the risks, time, and learning process.

Don't just assign an additional task or role; explain why you're entrusting it to them and what they stand to gain from the experience. Will it help them develop a new skill, build on an existing strength, or prepare them for greater responsibilities? Help them see how the opportunity can contribute to their growth.

As Brené Brown would say, "Paint what good looks like." Miscommunication could lead to wrong conclusions about the person's skill level. Explain your expectations, then have them explain them back to make sure you're aligned.

Be clear about what needs to be accomplished and when. Make sure you're available to check in on these milestones to avoid everyone going in the wrong direction.

At every step, provide clear feedback on what was done well and what could be better. Ask questions and encourage them to come up with solutions so they learn to think through challenges on their own.

Delegation isn't just a productivity hack. It's also about learning to let go of tasks so you can focus on more strategic work while giving your team room to grow. Good delegation means stretching people just enough, little by little, while still being there to guide and support them. After all, you don't have to do everything yourself for things to get done well.